Solitaire
by kiuna'yukina
Summary: I was feeling pretty pathetic, having gone most of the night playing on my laptop, winning a couple of times, and restarting the game more times than I could be bothered to count. And the ironic thing is, I met her by a game of solitaire. AU. SasuSaku.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **Well, here I am again! So basically, I was here, doing what our precious Sasuke said he was doing in the summary. Playing solitaire. Winning one or two or three times, and clicking restart whenever I got stuck. I have no idea how it managed to somehow warp into a SasukexSakura plot muse, but here it is! I'm trying to make this into my first real chaptered fic, so… wish me luck!

_**Because when sudden muse strikes, there's no where to run.**_

Oh, and Sasuke is pretty much, okay, a whole lot OOC; just so you won't freak out. XD

**Disclaimer: **Naruto isn't mine, okay? If it was, it'd be called "Sasuke". No, seriously. (grin)

* * *

**Solitaire-**

**Prologue**

So there's this annoying song playing over the radio, some gay-sounding guy singing about solitaire and loneliness and a man playing over a lost love or whatever.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Clay Aiken, I just find it exasperating that he's singing about useless things like _that_ when I'm actually playing the game he mentioned on my laptop computer. And I was feeling pretty pathetic, having gone most of the night playing on my laptop, winning a couple of times, and restarting the game more times than I could be bothered to count.

Not that I'm a boring, socially-challenged kind of guy, it's just that I was sitting inside a small, cozy, tea-and-sugar kind of café, watching the rain pour down outside the window in rivets, and wishing I was at home, warm and asleep, heck, anywhere, even, just not _here_ and alone, looking like some sort of dismal wreck reduced to playing electronic solitaire for interaction. For the general populace's information, Sasuke Uchiha does _not _do _small_ or _cozy,_ or even tea-and-crumpets for that matter.

Yes, I did that _once _when I was young, but I was forced, I tell you! It's not my fault I have a pretty face and that my mom was craving for a daughter during that moment in time! My older brother just had to run and go get the camera, and since then, he's never let me live it down.

Ah, siblings. Can't live with them, but you're not allowed to murder them. Doesn't mean you can't try though.

So deep I was in my musings that I barely noticed the only other remaining person in the shop come up to me until she was inches away from invading my personal space. I _value_ my personal space quite highly, thankyouverymuch. Now-

"How many times have you actually won?"

I was jarred from the innermost recesses of my mind, and momentarily stopped the mechanical process of dragging digital cards across a screen to gape, no, not _gape, _that is reserved for monkeys, like _Naruto._ Anyway-

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I just noticed that you've been at it for quite a while now, and well, the rain's not letting up, so I got curious."

Now, I was _this_ close to huffing in indignation! This, _this_ woman, girl, whatever you wanted to call _it_, her, whatever, was seriously cutting into my mental thought speeches. The nerve. So I straightened myself up and turned to face her and-

We both stopped in shock.

She was _surprisingly_ pretty, with soft pink hair, bright green eyes, and well, I'm quite sure she thought I was quite nice to look at as well.

We broke of the uncalled staring contest after a while, and she hesitantly sat at the opposite end of my table. Really, I would have preferred she sat here, near me, _beside_ me actually, to… to see the computer screen of course. She _was_ asking about solitaire after all.

The raindrops continued falling, making a soothing pitter-patter sound as it drummed on the windows of the now seemingly smaller café I found myself sheltering in. She cleared her throat after a moment, and tentatively offered a smile. Being the gentleman I was, just not that keen on showing others of it, I smiled back.

And then she began to talk. About mostly nonsense, really, but I didn't mind because it was her. That's how it is with her and me, mostly hours filled with chatter, about utter drivel really, but she seemed happy to talk, and I was only glad to be able to hear her voice. What we have is a strange not-so-friendship-as-it-is-a-relationship, but I guess we're both content at the moment to just be _together_ and talking, and getting to know each other, and basically just enjoying what we could get, you know?

Naruto always told me I was too aloof for my own good. Kept setting me up, not that I'd show anyway, and pestering me to finally get a girlfriend or something. Well I had, or at least, I had found myself the closest thing to one I would probably get in my present state of being.

And the ironic thing is, I met her by a game of solitaire.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Whew! That was surprisingly easy to get out! It might be a little confusing though, and I'd be glad to answer any questions.

Another reason why Sasuke is quiet most of the time. XP It's all in his head.

Hope you enjoyed reading! As always, I'd love to hear what you think.

_**Signing off,**_

_**Kiuna'yukina**_


	2. Denial is my friend

**Author's Note: **And here's the first chapter! I'm actually amazed I could write something other than a oneshot… Yay me! XD

Forgive the apparent hyper-ness of this chapter, I was only too _ecstatic_ to wake up today, open my mail and find a barrage of reviews, story alerts, author alerts and favorites. Yes, one of my first times… That rush never does leave you, does it?

Well, enough rambling, on with the story! I hope I don't disappoint!

**Disclaimer:** Yessh, Naruto is mine! _I'm Kishimoto!_ XP

* * *

**-Solitaire-**

**First Deck - Denial is my friend**

It was a Friday, _finally, _and the sun was actually shining, for once. Heh. Finally got tired of harassing innocent little bystanders who are too stubborn to bring umbrellas. Not pertaining to me. It's not _my_ fault all the ones we have at home are either frilly or pink or just plain too _girly._ Anyway, to get to the topic of my musings-

"Sa-su-ke!"

Proceed with a glomp, and a bone-crushing hug, both of which I enjoy _immensely._ But going back to my previous train of thought:

She was acting all weird and crazy-like, and me, being quite knowledgeable concerning these matters, cued it up to being her time of the month. Not that I'm a woman, _good heavens no_, but I'm a sensitive man. Er, I mean _sensible._ Yes, I am a sensible man. And quite the model citizen too, at that.

And I have absolutely _no idea_ how it happened, but it seems to have become a ritual of sorts between us, she and I. That once or twice or, oh, alright, _everyday_ if you want to put it like that, we would meet up at that cozy little café on Cherry Street, and settle down with a cup of coffee for her, and well, jasmine tea for me; to play _games_ of solitaire on my laptop computer. Well, if the name of the street wasn't any indicator of how utterly… unnatural this whole thing was, the name of the _game_ should have been a clear sign.

_Solitaire. _Hello? Solitaire. As in _solo, _one, alone, unaccompanied, on your own, singly, by yourself; as in the game was meant to be played in _solitude. _Not that I'm complaining though. As fascinating as the game is, and even if the rules clearly state it's a one-man game, I doubt it would have appealed to me as much solitarily as it does when _we're_ playing it together. Oh, alright, so _she's_ playing, and I'm watching, but what's the difference? It's _my_ computer, and I started it anyway. Never mind that fact that I absolutely _adore_ the way her eyes twinkle when she's about to win, or the way her cheeks flush in victory when she actually _does _succeed and all the cards go tumbling down like a waterfall.. A jumpy, bouncy waterfall. And _no,_ I wasn't watching her when I was supposed to be watching the screen. I'm just sensitive to the things around me. I'm… alert. Responsive. That's why I have to suppress this distinct urge to just.. oh, I don't know, wrap my arms around her in a casual _friendly _no-strings hug, which, as the name implies, does not mean anything at all. And it having no implications whatsoever also has nothing to do with why I have to suppress the urge to do it in the first place.

And no, I am not paranoid. Did she tell you that?

"Sasuke."

Ooh boy. Now I'm in trouble. She's got that pout thing going again. Switching my focus back to her, _not that it ever left her in the first place_, I blink innocently, and ask her,

"Yes?"

She sighs exasperatedly and proceeds to pinch my cheeks. Rather _painfully_ too, I might add. Now, one might have thought that I'd have escaped this torture ever since I grew taller than most of my aunts and my mom's other pinch-happy friends, but alas, one is _wrong_ sadly. And no, I am not just _pretending _to mind when in fact I don't because I love the feel of her hands against my face.

The Nile is just a river, but denial is my friend. We meet each other everyday. But it's a secret relationship. Not even _Naruto_ knows about that.

"You're not paying attention!"

Cue repressed sigh. She's whining again. I pretend it's annoying, but in reality, I find it absolutely adorable. And that is one thing she'll never find out about me. _Never._ Sasuke Uchiha does not do cute. I believe I mentioned that earlier on, yes? Moving on…

"I _was_ paying attention, Sakura."

In truth, I was expecting a barrage of countering statements from my fiery spitfire friend, so you can only imagine the surprise I just couldn't hide when she just sat there gaping at me. Did I mention she had this completely delightful blush on her face? No? Well, now I had.

Tilting my head in an inquiry, _because no matter how less anti-social Naruto claimed I had become, I was still an Uchiha;_ I gazed straight into her deep emerald eyes. _By gods, my thoughts are sounding more and more like poetry!_

That seemed to work though, as she visibly snapped out of it and kept shaking her head like a wet –adorable- puppy.

"Well…"

And the way she smiled simply swept me off my feet.

"It's the first time you've called me by my name."

And it took all my effort to just _not_ kiss her then and there.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Yes, still riding that high! Hope you enjoyed this as much as, if not more than the last one. I honestly love the Sasuke I'm building up here. He seems so much more… normal. Haha.

And yes, Sasuke _does _ramble. Only _intelligently_. XP

I apologize for the length, I know it's short... But I hope to make up for it by more frequent updates!

Tell me what you think! XD

_**Kiuna'yukina**_


	3. Itachi, Aniki, Weasel

**Author's Note: **Second chapter! Well, this took longer than expected.. I kind of ran out of ideas regarding Itachi, and well, I'll let you be the judge of the outcome.

**Disclaimer:** Yessh, Naruto is mine! _I draw that good._

* * *

**-Solitaire-**

**Second Deck – Of annoying older brothers named "**_**weasel"**_

Now, what is it with overbearing, _annoying_ older brothers who seem to serve no purpose other than to completely devastate a younger, and therefore _vulnerable_, sibling's otherwise tolerable life? I honestly do not understand the reason for Itachi actually _wanting_ to be the bane of my existence. He himself said as much.

Anyway, the reason for my untimely outburst was, well, rather shallow, actually. And no, that is _not_ my friend denial speaking. Really. Staring into Sakura's irresistible face does not at all rank high among my priorities list. _It tops my 'reasons to live' list._ Oh, now I'm just being cheesy.

Going back to Itachi, _although I'd rather not,_ he, once again, just catastrophically, and in no small measures, _made my day._ And yes, I'm a firm advocate of sarcasm. The weasel himself made sure of that.

Now, what is it with my brother's name literally translating into _weasel?_ I mean, I know it makes good for name-calling and all, but really. I find myself utterly _appalled_ to be so closely related to some _thing_ of that species. Foregoing modesty for a quick moment, I find myself quite pleasing to the eyes. Sakura's blushes could attest to that. Anyway, on to more significant matters, namely, _Sakura._

So we were there, having that strange staring contest, and she was smiling, of course, _I was gaping like an idiot,_ but let's just forget about that for like, forever, when the door to the café opened none too quietly and in walked the apocalypse. _Don't tell him I told you that. Praise works wonders on his already overblown ego._

Who better to come in and _ruin_ the moment than my dear older _emo-poster-boy-wannabe_ brother?! Yes. For the title of emo-poster-boy belongs to _me,_ no buts about it. And I don't even lift a finger.

"Otouto…"

Oh, really now, Itachi, you interrupt _my thoughts_ too?! Check yourself, _aniki,_ even if you are an Uchiha, no one dares interrupt my mental speeches. I believe I've already made that clear? And yes, Sakura _is _an exception. So there.

So anyway, is it just me, or is my brother's voice _really _creepy? Like something from a really bad, really old horror movie. And no, I do not watch those. _He _does, and because of the unfortunate fact that we share a room, _brotherly-bonding, my mom calls it, bluntly, I call it utter hell,_ I am reduced to watching them too. Oh, the horrors. Excuse the pun, and no, I was not scared. It was _Itachi_ who was making those whimpering noises and hiding under a blanket holding a brown bear plushie. Oh come of it, I was _five!_

"Who is this delightful young lady you have sitting with you here? You won't mind introducing her to aniki now, will you?"

I did NOT just grit my teeth imperceptibly. I'm way too cool for that. _And yes, I do mind._ Sakura was blushing, _prettily, I might add, _and-

WHOA.

Wait a gawd-damn-minute. Only _I_ have the right; the _right _you hear me? Right, not privilege, of making _my _Sakura turn that adorable shade of tomato.

_Tomatoes…_Mmm. And- when did I start referring to her as _my _Sakura? I-

"Sasuke?"

"Otouto?"

Just then, I must've spaced out because they were looking at me weirdly, like, _well,_ like I had been staring at blank space for quite some time. You see, I _don't_ normally do that. Well, not that I know of, at least. Although, people _have_ recently been prone to just calling my name out of the blue all at once. Weird. And-

Have I ever told you that it is _extremely _horrifying to regain one's senses to find one's precariously senile,_ for-the-moment,_ self a few scant centimeters from the appallingly similar face of one's older brother?!

I'm the "one" being referred to by the way, thought it would be polite to let you know.

"I-TACHI!"

NO, I did not falter. And I most definitely did _not_ just scream like a girl. In public. While falling off a chair. In a arguably _girly _café. With _a lot_ of people. And Sakura watching- _Gods. SAKURA was watching!_

And he laughed. Yes, the puny, irritating, exasperating, infuriating, nauseating, _maddening _weasel of an elder brother I was cursed with promptly dropped all sense of dignity and rolled on the floor laughing his _–shiny- _ass off. Yes, _shiny. _He was wearing spandex. _Green _spandex. I just noticed, and I could've _died._

I have never been witness to anything more horrendous in my entire life.

And let's not forget about Sakura, shall we? All through my brother's moronic antics and my highly intelligent thought processes, what was _my_ beautiful Sakura occupying herself with? (_Yes, I just admitted to it, my friend denial is surprisingly AWOL today…)_

Well, she simply smiled. Then she tried, but failed, to suppress sporadic giggles. I stared, _no, I gaped,_ and she stood up to reach out a hand, offering to help me out of my absolutely _mortifying _situation on the tiled floor.

I took it, and as her strength got me by surprise, I ended up in an even more compromising position, our bodies touching intimately, our faces even closer than mine and Itachi's were. I froze, feeling heat pool across my cheeks, grateful that she was probably _way too close _to notice.

My brother was nowhere to be found by then, and I was thankful for the gods that somehow, _some way_, had finally cut me some slack.

Because she was standing there, looking all angel-like, with the most endearing blush covering her features, and that _smile_ that never failed to disarm me, while she gave me a soft poke on my forehead and whispered,

"Sasuke, your brother just ran off with your last tomato…"

I kinda lost track of everything else after that.

* * *

Is it just me, or am I hovering horribly off the topic?? –sigh- This is why I stuck to doing oneshots… And I hated the ending…

For some reason, I don't really like this chapter. Hope you still enjoyed!

_**Kiuna'yukina**_


	4. Got milk?

**Author's Note: **Third chapter here! It's not really a continuation of the last, just a random something I picked up out of nowhere. But no worries, I'm not leaving the Itachi-tomato-spandex-thing hanging, its up for a later date. Enjoy!

And thanks for all the reviews! I'm so glad people actually like this!

**Disclaimer: **Naruto is sheer _genius_, and I have an IQ of about 150. Not really Einstein now, am I?

* * *

**-Solitaire-**

**Third Deck- Got milk?**

So there she sat, with a milk moustache adorably smeared over her upper lip. It seemed just like one of those "Got milk?" ads where someone famous dons a ridiculously exaggerated pose, all to show off how utterly _fascinating_ you become when you engage in a habit of messily drinking milk.

But don't me wrong, I _never_ for once thought that Sakura ever looked ridiculous.

_Good heavens, no,_ she never looks anything short of perfection. _Yeah, I'm babbling… _But she's a good subject as any when you're off rambling about something…

Yeah, off topic there, sorry. This is supposed to be about how two people fell in love by a game of solitaire. Incredibly cliché, is it not? Bur utterly true… Utterly, completely, totally true… And it's our story, hers and mine; Sakura and me, Sasuke.

Anybody ever felt that ring to it? You know, Sakura and Sasuke? Just sounds right, doesn't it? Well, I think so, and I'm willing to bet she does too.

Oh, now she's got some sort of cream on her cheek. Really, that girl, even icing seems to get attracted to her. And can you blame it? When she's just sitting there, looking absolutely gorgeous, even with a milk moustache and a smudge of strawberry _something_ on her left cheek. As utterly ridiculous as it sounds, it matches her hair. And I happen to love the color of her hair. Because it matches her. Because it means _Sakura._

And I just happen to find myself falling in love with this girl so sweet, not even icing can make her sweeter. Not that I'd ever admit it _yet,_ because as we've previously discussed, denial is my friend. I won't go traipsing over that bridge any time soon…

_There._ There's that wonderful smile of hers, yes, still with the milk moustache and the smudge of strawberry. She's just won another game of solitaire, _and I wonder if they make tomato-flavored icing…_ She turns back to me, and suddenly, that smile becomes wider, turns into a grin, actually, as she bends over and-

"You've got a bit of strawberry cream here, Sasuke."

And giggles. And my face feels so flushed it's like I've forgotten how it feels like to breathe. _Inhale, exhale. C'mon Sasuke, you've been in worse situations like this…_ And the funny thing is, the whole being unable to breathe thing didn't feel bad at all. I know, I know, life-threatening situations in general are supposed to feel awful, but this… Having her smooth fingers slowly brush over my lips sends butterflies down my stomach, and it's a warm, fuzzy feeling that sends shivers up and down my spine. The good kind, of course.

She must have noticed me staring then, for all of a sudden, she looked at me all weird and tilted her head, _completely adorable,_ and said,

"Sasuke, what's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Blame it on my lack of communication skills, or maybe just my anti-social behavior that I couldn't immediately form a response. I couldn't say yes, because that would be embarrassing on her part, and besides, I kinda like the way she looks right now. On the other hand, I couldn't say no either, because it would then lead to her wondering, or even worse, _asking _why I was staring at her oddly in the first place. And I'm pretty sure she'd do the latter. And my mom always told me never to lie. Unless it's a bad person who's asking for your parents whereabouts so they can assassinate them. _Yeah…_

So anyway, I still had that tingly feeling on my lips, and I kinda, sorta, wanted her to feel the same way, so I bent closer to her and did the same thing. I raised my hand, and gently brushed away the strawberry from her cheek. _The milk moustache stays._ And no, I wasn't just using that as an excuse to touch her face. I was just taking advantage of the opportunity that presented itself. I mean, situations like that aren't a dime a dozen. And I'm an opportunistic man, so there.

And lucky me, I was rewarded with another cute blush on her face. By now, the waterfall of cards had finally finished cascading down my screen, and the window asking if the player wanted to "deal again?" had appeared. Checking the time, and finding out that the night had barely started, I turned to Sakura and smiled, gesturing to the laptop computer.

She blinked, innocently, once or twice, and then she laughed and grabbed my hand, placing it on top of the mouse. Her hand stayed there, on top of mine, and it was a nice feeling, almost as if it belonged like that. I turned to her, silently asking about the change in position, and she merely shrugged, milk moustache still in place, and told me,

"You play."

And I did. And I inched just _a teeny wee bit closer _just so we could keep on holding the mouse like we did.

We won that game, no sweat.

* * *

Did this while everyone at my cousin's house was asleep, sort of had a movie-marathon like sleepover… Anyway, I started this story with just Sasuke's POV in mind, but a reviewer opened the idea about putting in Sakura's POV as well.

What do you think? And I'm currently open to any suggestions you guys might have!

Hope you enjoyed!

_**Kiuna'yukina**_


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